Does Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Cover Chiropractic Treatment?

The Pennsylvania worker’s compensation system can be pretty helpful when it works how it’s supposed to. You get injured on the job and your employer (or, usually, your employer’s insurance company) pays for your medical treatment and you get partial reimbursement for any lost wages. But where do you get the medical treatment, and how much control do you have over who your health care provider is after a workplace injury?

The Pennsylvania workers’ compensation laws directly address this important issue. As experienced workers’ compensation attorneys, we at Barnard, Mezzanotte, Pinnie and Seelaus, LLP in Media can answer your workers’ compensation questions if you don’t find the information you need here. Since 1980, we have provided personal and attentive service to workers’ compensation clients. We are also experienced litigators who have achieved numerous high-value sums in injury cases, including many six- and seven-figure verdicts and settlements.

Under current Pennsylvania law, you are free to choose your own health care provider—including a chiropractor—unless your employer has accepted your claim and has also posted in your workplace a list of at least six doctors or other health care providers it uses for workers’ compensation. If there is no list, or if the list is improper, then you may see a provider of your choice, including a chiropractor.

If the employer has a proper list, then you must first seek care from one of the listed providers. You must continue to receive care from that employer-approved provider for three months. At the end of the three-month period, you may choose your own health care provider—including a chiropractor—if you still need medical treatment.

The Pennsylvania workers’ compensation law does not require employers to include a chiropractor in its list of six or more approved health care providers.

Another exception to the three-month rule could arise if your doctor recommends surgery or another invasive procedure. In that case, you have the right to a second opinion from a health care provider of your choosing, including a chiropractor.